


Taking the Plunge

by obsessingovereverything



Category: Julie and The Phantoms (TV)
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Luke and Reggie are the best wing ghosts, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-20
Updated: 2020-09-20
Packaged: 2021-03-08 01:21:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,572
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26567239
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/obsessingovereverything/pseuds/obsessingovereverything
Summary: The first thing Willie learned about Alex was that he was an anxious person.The second thing Willie learned about Alex was that he was in a band.Despite knowing these things, he had never seen Alex play.*****aka Willie sees Alex perform for the first time and has lots of feelings
Relationships: Alex/Willie (Julie and The Phantoms), Julie Molina/Luke Patterson
Comments: 39
Kudos: 1555





	Taking the Plunge

**Author's Note:**

> I really want to see Willie see Alex perform on the show! Hopefully if we get a season 2, this can happen, but until then, I had this idea and just had to write something. Hope everyone likes it!

The first thing Willie learned about Alex was that he was an anxious person. It was pretty obvious, as from the moment he crashed into him, a steady stream of ghost-related questions flowed from Alex’s mouth. Whether they were breaking into a museum or sitting on a bench, he always had a somewhat nervous energy. If Willie was being honest, he liked being the person to help Alex let go and calm his anxiety, relishing in the rare carefree smile across the blonde’s face. 

The second thing Willie learned about Alex was that he was in a band with his two best friends, and that the three of them had died together hours before what would have been a life changing gig. At first glance, Alex didn’t strike him as the type to be in a band, but after spending a little time with him, Willie began to understand it more. Alex was a drummer, having picked it up to cope with his anxiety. Whenever they hung out, Alex’s hands never stopped moving- fingers tapping across tables, walls, his thighs- across any surface he could touch. It was his way to release anger and frustration, as well as being a source of pure passion, similar to how skateboarding was for Willie. 

Despite all of this, Willie had never actually seen Alex play the drums. Yes, there was that time where Caleb forced him and his band mates to play as a part of his new house band, but the entire thing made Willie so sick to his stomach, that he left before the three of them had even started. He had considered attending the concert at the Orpheum where they’d be playing with Julie, the Lifer who made playing again even possible for them, but he was too scared to face the wrath of Caleb because one, Caleb basically owned his soul, and two, Alex’s life was hanging in the balance and he swore to himself that he would, under no circumstances, put Alex in a dangerous situation like that again. 

Deep down, Willie knew the real reason he had never seen Alex play was because he was scared. From the moment he had run over Alex with his skateboard, he felt this special little spark that had ricocheted throughout his whole body. Willie was gone the moment he looked into those blue eyes, bright and full of kindness, and got butterflies every time he even thought about their height difference. When the two began to spend time together, he had fallen slowly, taking everything Alex said to heart, whether it was a story about the antics of his friends, or a tale from his time in the world of the living. Willie knew that the second he saw Alex on stage, he would be done for. There would be no going back, no way to try and protect him if Caleb tried something again, and frankly, that scared the shit out of him. 

That all changed one afternoon, when the two were hanging out in the park, Willie trying to find the craziest obstacles to skate over while Alex watched on amusedly. Finally, when he managed to perform a stunt that caused Alex to burst into laughter (Willie had skated through a playground, but miscalculated how fast his board would take him down the kiddie slide. He went careening towards a fire hydrant, but at the last second, ended up sailing over it and landing in a bush. Hey, it may have been embarrassing, but it was far less dangerous than the accident he had died in), he joined Alex off to the side where he had been watching. He took off his helmet, shaking out the leaves that had gotten stuck from the bush. Willie caught Alex staring, causing the taller boy to give a small, sheepish smile before glancing away, tapping his fingers on his thighs. As much as this sight warmed his heart, he couldn’t help but notice Alex had more nervous energy than usual. He seemed to be bouncing on the balls of his feet, eyes darting across the park and focusing on everything but Willie. 

“Hey, uh, Alex,” Willie started, “is everything okay? You seem a little more...”

“A little more what?” Alex asked, raising his eyebrow, clearly entertained with wherever this was going.

“A little more... anxious than usual? If something is going on, you know you can talk to me.”

“What- going on?” Alex sputtered, his voice raising an octave. “No, everything’s normal as normal can be for a ghost that can be seen by the world when he performs with one specific girl.”

It was Willie’s turn to raise an eyebrow. Alex sighed reluctantly before starting to speak. 

“It’s not.... not... nothing. The band has a gig tonight.”

“Oh, I see. You’re nervous for the gig. Is it a really big one?”

“No, no just a normal performance. Nothing out of the ordinary.”

“So why are you so nervous?” Willie asked. “If I knew what was wrong, I could help you.”

Alex started at Willie, his eyes seeming to bore into his soul. After what felt like an eternity, Alex took a breath and said, “You know what? You’re right.”

Willie looked at him expectantly, but the words that came out of Alex’s mouth next nearly caused his heart to stop. 

“Will you come to my gig tonight?” 

A long stretch of silence followed. Willie just stared, trying to calm the waves of emotion rising in his chest. Alex must have misinterpreted this as a bad sign, because he immediately began to back track. 

“You don’t have to!” he said, running a hand through his hair. “I just thought- well- you’ve never seen me- I mean, the band- play before and I feel so happy that you share your passion of skating with me, that I want to share my passion of music with you. It’s nothing, really, just forget I ever said anything...”

Willie finally regained his ability to speak. Alex was being so sweet, and he hated seeing that sad, puppy dog face, especially when he was the cause of it. Even though he was scared of the consequences, there was nothing he wanted to do more than go to Alex’s show. 

“Of course I’ll come,” Willie said, an easy grin stretching across his face. “Is that why you were so worried?”

“No?” Alex replied, the corner of his mouth ticking upwards. 

“Just tell me the time and place,” Willie said. “And Alex?”

“Yeah?”

“I’ll always support you. No matter what.”

That was how, later that night, Willie found himself in the back of a dimly lit venue, surrounded by a buzzing crowd. The gig was supposed to start at 8, but Willie had poofed in slightly earlier, mainly due to nerves. This was it. There was no going back after tonight, but he wasn’t regretting showing up at all. In all seriousness, he was really curious to see how exactly this whole becoming-visible-while-playing-with-Julie thing worked. All of a sudden, the room quieted down and the stage lights flickered on. Soft blue beams of light shone down, illuminating a girl with curly brown hair as she found her place behind a keyboard. 

So, this is the magical Julie, Willie thought. He could tell by the way she readied herself to perform that there was something special about her. He also really wanted to meet her, and thank her. After all, if it wasn’t for her discovering this band, he never would have met Alex, and Alex was the greatest thing to have ever happened to him in his afterlife. 

Julie began to play the keyboard, notes ringing out as she sang, her voice clear and strong. It was almost as if she cast a spell over the entire room. Everyone was watching, waiting to see what would happen next. As entrancing as she was, that’s not why Willie was there. The song started to gain momentum, the melody rising and gaining more power. That was when it happened. 

Right as the chorus hit, all of the ghosts appeared. Reggie played the bass and flirted with the crowd, while Luke and Julie harmonized, dancing and gazing into each other’s eyes with way too much passion for a 17 year old ghost and a Lifer. But Willie was much more interested in what was happening behind them. 

Sitting at the drum set, keeping a steady yet catchy beat, was Alex. He was completely in the zone, more focused than Willie had ever seen him, and his eyes reflected a myriad of emotions- passion, hunger, drive. It was probably the most attractive thing he had ever seen. Willie continued to listen to the song, never taking his eyes off of Alex. Another thing Willie discovered that he had not been expecting was that Alex had a nice voice. Really nice, actually. So nice that Willie had to stop himself from daydreaming about what it might be like to have Alex sing a song for him. He could think about later. Right now he wanted to savor the moment. His heart swelled with admiration, pride, and well... love. He knew before coming that tonight would change everything. He knew that the depth of his feelings would be confirmed, and that they ran so deep, he was already miles past the point of no return. Shaking these thoughts from his mind, Willie focused on the performance at hand, particularly the pure joy that radiated from Alex as he played the drums, and he found that he was no longer scared of whatever happened next.

As soon as the show ended and the Phantoms poofed out, Willie did too. He needed to find Alex. Luckily, he didn’t need to look far because the entire band was backstage, locked in a group hug.

“That was awesome!” Luke exclaimed, throwing his head up to the ceiling and letting out a celebratory whoop. 

“Yeah. That new song Luke and I wrote went over really well with the crowd,” Julie chimed in. 

“Hey, guys, next time can we do one of the songs I wrote?” Reggie asked as the group of four pulled out of the hug.

“I don’t know, Reg,” Alex spoke at last. “Do you have any songs that don’t require us to wear cowboy hats and fringed vests?” 

Willie decided this was his cue. “I think you’d make a pretty cute cowboy.”

Four heads whipped around towards the entrance of the backstage room.

“Willie!” Alex squeaked, a slight blush coloring his cheeks. “You came!”

“I said I would, didn’t I?” he said, making his way over to Alex. “You were really good, man. All of you were.” 

Willie squeezed Alex’s shoulder in what was supposed to be an affectionate gesture, but it felt a little awkward with the whole band watching. Alex was undeterred though, taking Willie’s hand into his own and lacing their fingers together.

Luke and Reggie turned around to give the two boys the chance to talk, but Julie didn’t seem to get the memo. She stood with her arms crossed, mouth half-hanging open in a surprised smile.

“So you’re the famous Willie,” she said. “I’m so excited to finally meet you! I’ve never met another ghost besides these guys. I have so many questions! This is just so- ow! What was that for?”

Luke had elbowed Julie to get her to shut up. From the sound of it, he had done it pretty hard. 

“Jules! I have something I need to show you!”

“Okay, what is it?”

“It is... outside! Oh, hey, Reggie, why don’t you come too. We can show you the thing together.”

Reggie seemed to catch on. “Yes. Yes, the thing that is outside that we need to show you! Come on, let’s go!” 

Julie seemed confused, but she followed them anyway. “Okay... I’ll see you later in the studio.” 

Alex raised his hand to wave goodbye, but Julie turned around and opened her mouth to say something.

“Hey, Alex?” she called. “Nice choice.”

Alex coughed as Julie winked at him, a knowing grin plastered across her face, and she was gone. It was just the two of them now. Alex seemed much calmer after the show than he had earlier in the day, but Willie could tell there was still something on his mind. Before he could ask what was bothering him, Alex beat him to the punch.

“It’s just me here. Did you actually like the show? Or are you just saying that so you don’t hurt my feelings? It’s okay, I can handle the truth.”

Willie heard the slight crack in Alex’s voice, as if he truly believed that Willie thought his performance was anything less than amazing. 

“You want the truth?” Willie started. “You. Were. The best.“ 

He put an emphasis on each word, before continuing to rave about the performance Alex had put on. “I’ve never seen you like that before. So open and free. I wish you felt like that more often.”

“I do when I’m with you,” Alex replied softly. 

Now it was Willie’s turn to glance away and blush. He doesn’t know what he did in his life to deserve such a wonderful, kind, and beautiful person, but there was no way he was letting that go anytime soon. Willie pulled Alex into a tight hug.

“I loved it,” Willie whispered into Alex’s ear. “I truly did.”

When the two pulled away, they stared unabashedly at each other in a comfortable silence. The two stood there for a while, relishing each other’s company while listening to sounds from outside the room. There was the faint clink of dishes being cleaned, the muffled scratch of chairs being dragged across the floor, and hushed whispers from outside the room that sounded suspiciously like Luke and Reggie “teaching Julie how to be the optimal ghost-wingman.” The two of them were happy just to enjoy each other’s company, neither wanting to pop the little bubble they had created.

“So,” Willie said at last. “When’s the next show?”

Alex smiled and rolled his eyes good naturdly, but Willie could tell that that simple question meant a lot to him. “You’ll be the first to know.” 

After another beat of silence, Alex continued. “I should probably go. Don’t want to keep my parents waiting any longer.”

Willie chuckled at that. Sure, Reggie could be a little bit of an airhead, and Luke could get a little over excited, but they were Alex’s family, and they had good hearts.

“See you tomorrow?” Willie asked. “Same time, same spot?”

Alex nodded. “I wouldn’t have it any other way. Good night, Willie.”

Before Willie could say anything in response, Alex leaned down, kissed him on the cheek, and poofed away. Willie immediately brought his hand up to touch the place where Alex’s lips had grazed his skin and smiled. He had known that tonight would seal his fate, and it did not disappoint. 

I think I love him, Willie thought. For some reason, this didn’t catch him as off guard as he would have previously thought. Every day, Willie had fallen for Alex a little more. His mind continued to wander, Alex’s name flashing in his head like a neon sign. It had finally happened. Willie had taken the plunge. There was no going back now, but he knew more than anything in the entire world, that he wouldn’t change a thing.


End file.
